Issue 037

May 2008

TEXT: DAVID SWANN PHOTOS: ROBERT SWANN

INGREDIENTS 

Chorizo sausage roughly cut into small chunks

Pasta shells brown or white (100g)

Spanish onion 1 small

Red pepper or jarred sweet peppers 1 small

Garlic 1 clove

Frozen petit pois (handful)

Lime (1 fresh)

Fresh grated parmesan (handful, optional)

Method

1. Before you start to cook anything, cut all of your vegetables and the chorizo sausage. 

2. Place a pan of salted water on the heat to cook your pasta, it is better to salt the water at the start to give the pasta more flavour as you achieve a different result seasoning afterwards, however I like to do both for their different tastes.

3. Once the water is boiling add the pasta to the pan.

4. Place a second large-based frying or saucepan on the stove to heat.

5. Add some olive oil to the pan (enough to coat the bottom) and add the diced onion. Sauté this for around two minutes. Now add the pepper and sauté this for a further minute.

6. Add the chorizo to the pan and cook. The colour of the sausage should dye the vegetables. 

7. After another minute add the sliced garlic to the pan and cook for thirty seconds. If the oil is too hot it will burn the garlic, so be very careful.

8. At this time your pasta should be ready to drain – if so add the peas to the pasta water and drain in a colander. The peas only take a minute to warm through.

9. Add the pasta to the sausage and vegetable pan and stir to combine. The sausage is naturally salty so season this to taste.

10. Place into your bowl and grate the fresh Parmesan over the top. Add some lime on top of this for extra flavour.

Points

This dish is something of a guilty pleasure, and not recommended for those who are dieting before a fight. It works great hot or cold, so you can always make extra and eat it cold another time. If you are using brown pasta you will need to put this on to cook probably five minutes earlier then if you were to use white, so bare this in mind.